Barely Breathing
by LadyCharliEM
Summary: Sequel to Breathe. Darcy is trying to build back her life, but even half way across the world trouble always seems to find her. Darcy/Clint
1. Chapter 1

Xxxxxx

Barely Breathing

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So… It starts again. I've had a lot of this written out for a while and it's about time I published it. Sorry about the mistakes, they are all mine, I'm currently writing another fic so don't have a lot of time to triple check this and don't want to burden my Beta, so any errors please point them out and I'll fix them eventually….

Sandra, please don't hate me for putting this up, I just need to get it off my hard drive!

Enjoy!

Xxxxxx

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Chapter 1

Darcy was sipping her large hot chocolate in the small coffee shop on the corner of a busy Paris street.

"Miss Lewis?" A tall, lanky man with dark blonde hair stood a foot from her table, a sheepish smile on his handsome face. Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at the Michael Fassbender doppelganger. Wow, that was even hard to pronounce properly in her own head. She plastered a bright smile on her face, lots of teeth and completely fake.

"Yes?" She answered, her heart rate picking up as her hand slowly reached for the butterfly knife she kept in her handbag. Thanks to a handy YouTube video she was fairly confident with using it quickly.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I'm Agent Hunt, I was told to check up on you by Director Fury, he said I would most likely find you here." He explained, glancing over at the empty seat on the other side of the small iron table. Darcy rolled her eyes at his unsubtle hint to get an invitation to sit down. She waved her hand over to the chair, which he happily took and sat in, taking off his satchel and hanging it on the back, Darcy know she didn't really have a choice in avoiding this conversation.

"Of course he did. You know how stalkerish it is that he knows exactly where I am and when? I'm halfway across the world, for Christ's sake!"

"He knew the woman who lived next door to me's name. I think just tracing your phone is child's play." Darcy raised an eyebrow at his retort. Usually agents just shrugged her comments like that off or reeled off hundreds of S.H.I.E.L.D related protocols.

"Touché. You may have won this battle, sir, but I shall win the war!" Darcy announced in the best 'epic battle cry' impression she could muster, holding the plastic stick with a ball of solid chocolate on the end out as if it was a sword, testing him. "So, what's your thing?" She asked, popping the chocolate ball into her mouth as if it was a lollypop. She thinks it's meant to be used to stir her drink and fill it with more yummy chocolatey goodness but the hot chocolate was already sweet enough for her and she liked lollypops.

"My thing?" He was amused by her casually random question, his eyebrow raised and a charming smile to accompany his look. Damn, he was goodlooking. They should call him Agent Goodlooking… Were those dimples? This man must be an awesome spy.

"You know, walk through walls, super strength, mind reading? Oh, are you the one who can control ants? I totally can't wait to meet that guy!" Darcy's eyes were wide and sparkling.

"I can't control ants." He shook his head lightly with a good natured chuckle.

"Have you ever tried?" Darcy challenged.

"... No..." He said after a long pause, as if he was genuinely searching his memories to see if he'd ever once tried to control the tiny insects.

"So what is it?"

"I'm just a spy." He said in a hushed voice. Just a spy? In Darcy's mind that was amazing, yet he said it as if he was ashamed he was _just_ a spy.

"Cool cool. So, how are things back home?" She didn't notice her own slip-up.

"I was about to ask you that, I haven't been there in a while. I've been working here for over six months." He looked relaxed and comfortable as a waitress came over and took his order. "*_Petit café avec un peu crème, et votre numéro de téléphone si vous êtes intéressés?*_" Darcy didn't understand everything he said but she assumed he ordered a drink and made a joke as the young woman blushed as she hastily scribbled something on her notepad. She practically skipped away and Darcy raised her eyebrows at him, unable to cover her smirk. "Not that I'm complaining about it!" He justified.

"_Riiiight_. So are you going to hand me a blank envelope that will explode three seconds after I read it or what?"

"Actually, I'm going to take you to The Louvre as you've been here three weeks and not been yet." He looked at her as gasped, mock shock gracing his sharp features. "What? You are officially the worst tourist." The waitress returned with a cup and a slice of some fancy pastry that Darcy looked at earlier but thought it was too sickly sweet looking. As the woman placed the food on the table, she leaned a little too close to the S.H.I.E.L.D spy and slipped a piece of paper into his front jeans pocket. Darcy didn't think it was possible, but her eyebrows were now so high they must be on the top of her head. Her smirk only increased when he tried to look innocently at her, pretending not to know what was going on. Damn, this guy was better than Bond, or at least she guessed he was.

"I'm not a tourist." She couldn't think of anything else to say, a first for her.

Agent Hunt groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yes, you're here to 'find yourself'." The air quotes were enough for Darcy to move to get up and leave. "Wait! I'm sorry. I'm not used to talking to normal people. I'm just a little excited."

"Normal people?" Darcy could feel her face scrunching up. "Why? Who are you usually speaking to?"

"Boring rich people who think because they are the greenest person on the planet because they have a Jimmy Choo designed reusable coffee mug or 'recycle' the- their clothes, which actually means they wear them more than once in public, not giving them to charity or making a pencil case out of them or something." Darcy thought he was still being sarcastic until she saw the slight desperation in his eyes. Wow, were people really like that? She looked down at her jumper. It had a dog on it, well, it was so faded now that you could hardly see the color the dog used to be, she wore it roughly 3 days a week for the past 3 years.

"Fine." She sighed and sat down, giving up. She hadn't really spoken to anyone out loud since she'd been in Paris. She'd emailed Natasha, Jane, Loki and her dad, who she was still keeping her mouth shut about his and her involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D, and even sent Fury a postcard after her first trip to the Eiffel Tower. Plus Agent Hunt seemed nice enough, not to mention safe, seeing as he was assigned to check up on her by Fury. "But only if you tell me your first name."

"Luke, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Lewis." He reached up and over the small table and shook her hand. Darcy gladly accepted it and smiled back at him.

"It's nice to meet you Luke, please, call me Darcy." She let go and sat back down. "So, you ever worked with Agent Barton?"

The mischievous glint in his eye was enough to answer her question.

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"So, I was left alone in the relay room, completely helpless, my harness wires wrapped around my own ankles and then I saw him. He was hiding in the fucking rafters! He'd made a nest that morning and waited there the whole time!"

"No way! All day?" Darcy and Luke laughed as they walked around the museum, pausing to look at various painting, some Darcy understood and others she just used her imagination.

"I swear, if it wasn't for Barton, I wouldn't be here today."

Darcy tilted her head at one frame, trying to ignore the swell in her chest that talking about Clint caused. If she closed one eye and squinted with the other then she could almost make out an elephant in the paint. "Elephant." She proclaimed, pointing at the centre of the picture.

"No way, that's a tree."

"Where? Show me the tree. That is totally an elephant."

He coughed and pointed at the small plaque that said "Tree in Spring Rain", a cheeky grin on his face as an elderly couple next to them walked away.

"Fine, I'll give you tree but I'm going to get the next one!" It was a fun morning, full of laughter and stories about various S.H.I.E.L.D related things. Luke was fascinated about The Avengers and Darcy loved hearing adventures that Luke and Clint had together when they were younger. She missed him so much but she wasn't ready to think about going back. She enjoyed the imagery and could almost picture him hiding in a nest like the bird he was named after, it both increased and helped ease the clenching in her chest.

"So, Lewis, any relation?" He grabbed her hand and spun her around in the middle of the hall as if they were dancing. She could bet that this man could charm the pants off anyone, and by the sounds of it, that was his primary mission.

"My dad." She nodded, still not sure how she felt about that. She remembered the first time she tried to email him after she found out. She went through three drafts, the first was just angry, the second curious, the third upset before she finally sent a vaguely normal update of her life, leaving out any detail that could be traced back to S.H.I.E.L.D or Jackson Norris.

"That's interesting." Luke mused, mainly to himself. "That must have been hard, growing up knowing your dad would kill anyone who so much as looked at you the wrong way."

Darcy shrugged, her head becoming a little clearer after the spinning. "You'd think so, right? But I didn't know. He hid the whole agent thing from me, I mean I knew he was always hard core, he actually took out his hunting gun when I first brought a boy home, but I assumed it was from his Army days. I only found out the truth a month ago."

"Hmm… That's very interesting." Darcy could see his spy brain working, she looked away, trying to focus on the next painting.

"Now _that _is an elephant!" She called out, earning her a glare from the elderly aged couple who were peacefully contemplating over the picture. She bit her lip, embarrassed at disrupting them again but laughed as soon as they had left that section.

Darcy spent the rest of the day with Luke until he had to leave just after five pm, something about a charity dinner he needed to get ready for. She had a great time and they swapped numbers and agreed to meet up tomorrow for lunch.

She walked down the busy street by the Seine heading towards her bed and breakfast. It was a humble place owned by a lovely old couple who spoke very little English so Darcy was trying her hardest to learn French quickly so she could actually have a decent conversation with them. So far all she could make out was that they had two daughters who both lived in London and a son who worked in a restaurant that they wanted to take her too one day.

"Salut!" She called as she closed the door behind her. They lived in the rooms downstairs and shared the kitchen while Darcy had her own bedroom and bathroom upstairs. She heard them call out a welcome from somewhere nearby and jogged up the stairs, dumping her handbag on the floor and falling back on the bed.

She closed her eyes and instantly fell asleep, it had been a busy day, wondering around one on Paris' busiest attraction for hours and messing around with Luke. She woke up the next morning with a smile on her face and no tear stains on her face.

Her heart had begun to mend itself.

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French Translation:

**_*Petit café avec un peu crème, et votre numéro de téléphone si vous êtes intéressés?*_**

**= Small coffee with a little bit of cream, and your phone number if you're interested?**

Please note, I don't speak French so this is a Google Translation, I would be very happy to change if anyone could translate it properly for me?

Well, I hope you enjoyed this and don't hate me now! I know a lot of people didn't like the way I ended Breathe so I hope this starts to make that up to you :-D

Please review! I love them :-D

Review! I even made a little template:

Hi,

When I saw you'd made a sequel to Breathe I thought: **About time!/ More of this rubbish?/ Yay!**

I liked: **Darcy/ Luke /The Waitress** because **(insert reason here).**

The plot and setting so far are: **Disappointing/ Boring/ Interesting/ …unsure.**

I **can't wait/ am dreading** the next chapter.

Kind Regards,

**(Your name here)**

Hope that helps make it a little easier as I love you're feedback!

Until next time,

Charlie


	2. Chapter 2

Xxxxxx

Barely Breathing

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Slow updates are going to be the norm for this one guys. I'm sorry. I havent really been in the mood for writing recently, plus I can no longer find the time I used to have to do it… But I went to the Thor The Dark World Premiere in London the other day and felt inspired! So here you go :-D Enjoy!

Xxxxxx

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Chapter 2

Two days after meeting Luke, Darcy was sitting in her usual spot in the coffee shop when another visitor popped by, only this one she recognised.

"Loki!" She tossed her book on the table and stood up, practically throwing herself onto him in a hug. "Oh my God! I've missed you, how are you? Why are you here? You look amazing!" She couldn't squash the excitement she felt with seeing him and all the questions bubbling up.

It was true, he had a pair of faded black jeans and a fitted cotton light grey shirt, he would fit in perfectly in a crowd of people here if it wasn't for his long dark hair. Darcy got the feeling that was the idea.

"Thank you, Darcy. I am very well and I had no prior engagements this morning so thought I'd pay my favourite Midgarian woman a visit to see how her travels are going." Loki gave her a brilliant smile and she felt happy tears well up behind her eyes.

"It's so good to see you." She pulled him into another hug, not caring about how silly their height differences made them look, her head rested on his chest for a minute. Her uninjured cheek pressed against his sternum. The settled into the chairs after a while before continuing. "How is base?"

"We've moved." He answered simply, picking up Darcy's mug of hot chocolate and taking a tentative and experimental sip. He looked pleased as he placed the cup back on the table. "What is this?"

"Moved? Where?" She choked out, was the base destroyed? Was everyone okay?

"Well, after the… incident, it was clear our cover was blown, it was just convenient that Stark Tower had just been finished being rebuilt and Tony had all The Avengers and their various tagalong's move in. He invited me to join them." He went to reach for her drink again but her hand shot out and snagged his wrist.

"It's called Hot Chocolate, get your own, Loki. But let's focus on more important thing, you live with the freakin' Avengers?" She felt like laughing at the absurdity. "That is insane. How did they even allow you in the front door?!"

"True, a few people were less than thrilled at my relocation. It's still a bit, what's the word… rocking?" Loki looked as amused at the situation as he was shocked.

"Rocky. It's still a bit rocky." Darcy let go of him wrist and leaned back in her chair, exhaling heavily. "Wow, I can't believe this. Let me guess, Natasha's the most pissed off?"

He nodded and smiled over at a familiar looking waitress that Agent Luke Hunt had asked out a few days before. "She leaves the room whenever I enter. She only remains if it is required, and even then she tends to glare." He turned to the waitress and smiled brightly, Darcy was stunned by how normal and handsome he looked. If only he was shorter and had less emotional baggage, not that she could complain about betraying, lying fathers… She shook her head lightly, looking down at the red marks on her wrists. They had almost completely faded, she could only see their faint outline because she knew they were there in the first place. She frowned. It was silly but they were her only link to Clint, a way she still felt connected to him. And now they were nearly gone. She wondered if he had moved on yet, it made her chest tight at the thought. She knew now, being away from him, that she would never get over him.

Had she made a mistake leaving? She asked herself that at least once an hour since she boarded that plane nearly a month ago. No, she was healing. Slowly, but in the last few days she was starting to feel like her old self, smiling without thinking about it and laughing without feeling guilty. Yeah, she made the right choice, it just happened to hurt like hell.

"Oh, I know that glare. She's fucking terrifying when she wants to be." Darcy came back to the room. She almost felt sorry for Loki that he had to endure the wrath of Romanoff, until she reminded herself that The Black Widow had good reason to be bitter. The waitress had gone to get his order and they were alone again. "How's um… how's the rest of the team?" She rolled her eyes at herself, could she be any more obvious?

"They are all very well, I'm sure you heard about the success of the Dr Doom defeat."

She had. It had been on the news everywhere, every media station and forum going crazy about how amazing The Avengers were to take down that self-made madman and all his 'doombots' as they tried to wreak havoc across New York City. Was it ever not Manhattan? Geez, attacking the world and starting on the superheroes doorstep was an idiot move, even she knew that! Not that she minded, all the media attention meant she got to see and check up on her friends without having the trouble of answering all their questions about her health, mental or otherwise. She spent the day after the big battle between them and Doom in her room, watching interviews with each team member on various channels, some were translated to French but she could still hear them speaking under the dubbed speech. She was very impressed to see Natasha talking to one of France's biggest News Channel in flawless French, then again, how could she not know a million different languages?

They kept replaying certain footage that had been captured on camera but focused on Hawkeye, apparently he was the 'favourite' so gained more screen time, Darcy guessed Becky's whole 'heart throb' plan had really worked, that and the fact he tended to be in one stationary position during battles so camera crews could follow him easily during battles. She logged onto her laptop and watched an interview with him on a late night chat show, he laughed and joked along with the host, even showing off some of his horrendous dance moves that made the audience go wild. She frowned as the next guest came on, some drop dead gorgeous actress who was promoting her movie or TV show about a mermaid and a ghost or some shit, Darcy didn't care to listen, only keeping her attention on Clint as he nodded and seemed to be a little too attentive of the female guest. She slammed the lid of her computer shut and went back to normal TV and watched as Tony Stark promised to give away free Stark Phones to the whole audience on Ellen but only if she agreed to go on a date with him. Darcy couldn't help but text him after that.

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome." Darcy nodded, running her fingers over the handle of her mug, not really interested in having any more. "I loved how Hulk just picked up that one and smashed it into the floor like ten times. I almost burst a kidney and died of laughter." She smiled at grainy footage, it already had over ten million hits on YouTube, and someone even made a dance remix that got stuck in her head all day. Loki shifted uncomfortably in his seat but agreed. "But… How's other… things?" She asked, lamely.

"How's Barton, you mean?" The waitress returned, placing a larger cup of hot chocolate in front of him, a huge amount of whipped cream on the top.

"I was trying to ask subtly, thanks."

"You are the least subtle person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, Miss Darcy Lewis." Loki announced before scooping a spoon full of the creamy white stuff with his index finger, examining it for a moment before popping it in between his lips. His eyed widened for a moment as he moved the food around in his mouth and swallowed. He took another scoop and repeated the actions. Darcy guessed he liked it then.

"No one does sarcasm quite like you, Mr Loki Odinson." She replied with as much mockery as he had.

"It's Laufeyson." He said calmly as he finally took sip of his own drink.

"What? Liesl's whose son?" Darcy asked, confused at his random statement.

"My last name, it's Laufeyson."

"Leafy Sunday?" She tried again which earned her an eye roll from him.

"We are named after our fathers. Thor is the son of Odin, Odinson. I am the son of Laufey, hence, Laufeyson." Loki explained.

"That's bullshit. That Laughing dude was not your daddy. Odin raised you from birth, he treated you as his son all your life. He taught you right from wrong, he was there to pick you up when you fell over and scrapped your knee or whatever the Asgardian equivalent is." Darcy pointed at him from across the table. "So sorry to break the news, but that, Mr Odinson, is what a real father does."

Loki was moved by her honest and profound words. He took a moment to process everything and slowly nodded. "Alright, I accept you premise, but I am still not worthy to share that name."

"Not yet." Darcy smiled, she knew he would redeem himself, he already had in her eyes. Now he just had to prove it to himself, a far more difficult task. "So, how is Clint?"

"I rarely see him. He's either busy doing press tours with Ms Brookes or hidden away in his nest." Loki finally replied, a little too flippantly for her liking.

"Oh." Darcy didn't know how to feel about that either. Like a lot of her feelings for Clint, she was still so unsure.

"In my opinion, he misses you greatly, Darcy. He is closing himself away, I have heard even Agent Romanoff is concerned."

Natasha hadn't mentioned anything in her recent email about him shutting her or anyone else out. She'd have to find a subtle way to ask in her next reply.

"You two deserved each other, although it pains me to admit. I understand why you are doing this, but the sooner you come back, the better."

"Thanks, Loki. That's really nice." Darcy smiled down at her drink, it was probably cold now. How much longer would she need before she was ready to go back to New York, would S.H.I.E.L.D even still want her? Was that what she really wanted? She didn't know. The only reason she liked HQ in the first place was because all her friends were there, now they were living it up in Stark Tower. "So tell me, what are you doing in the tower? The urge to play pranks must be unbearable! I would totally hide stuff or swap the sugar and salt over."

They laughed for a few hours, the conversation flowing easily. After their drinks she took him to a little store that she loved and showed him a gallery that had a small sculpture that she had to show him because it kind of reminded her of his crazy helmet, she loved it and knew he would to. He seemed taken with it and offered the owner a good amount of money for it. It wasn't until she was out of the gallery that he presented it to her as a gift.

"I can't take this, I saw how much they were asking. It's too much." She crossed her arms, showing she had no intention to take his over the top gift despite knowing it would look great on her desk next to her laptop... "Thank you, it's very thoughtful, but I can't take it."

Loki leaned over and pulled her hand that was tucked between her other arm. "Darcy. You had faith in me. You prayed for me in your time of need. You befriended me when no one else would. You believe in me, I can never begin to repay you, but this is a start. Please." He suddenly had such an endearingly cute puppy dog look that was eerily familiar to Thor's, Darcy wondered if he knew just how much that expression pulled on her heart string. She had a feeling he did and she slowly dropped her arms as her resolve wavered. "On Asgard it is considered quite rude to refuse a gift, especially from a prince." He finally teased, a smirk taking over from his pitiful pout.

"Augh! Fine!" She groaned, reach out to take the neatly wrapped box the sculpture came in. "But only because I don't want to be sent to the gallows or something for rejecting royalty!" It was lighter than she thought it would be, but she liked that, she'd hate to lug around a heavy metal object in a suitcase when she went home.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon Darcy got a phone call. She hardly ever used her cell so it took a moment to realize that someone playing 'that cool song' was actually her and coming from her handbag.

"Hello?"

"Agent Lewis, is Loki with you?" She heard Agent Hill's voice for the first time in a month. Darcy glanced over at Loki, he was currently watching an artist make a caricature of a happy smiley couple on the side of the road. He was completely enthralled.

"Yeah… Should he not be?" Darcy answered slowly.

"We need him back at the Avenger's Tower, a situation has arisen."

"Okay, I'll tell him." She nodded into the small phone.

"Thank you, sorry to disturb you on your vacation."

"That's cool. Hope everything goes alright."

"With Loki it will." Hill told her before hanging up. Darcy smiled and skipped over to Loki, he saw her approach and pointed at the man sketching.

"Can we get one of these? They are incredibly accurate and humorous!"

Darcy shook her head, she grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the public. "Sorry, maybe some other time." When they were safely tucked behind a building corner, she began to explain. "I just got a call from Maria Hill, they need you back at the Avenger's Tower?"

"They christened Stark Tower the Avenger's Tower after it reopened." He informed her but nodded and said a quick goodbye before popping out of existence in front of her. Darcy gasped in shock as he instantly disappeared but recovered quickly enough.

She headed back to her small apartment to drop off Loki's gift and decided to spend the next few hours sorting out the little tasks she'd been meaning to do, she checked her email and sent a reply to Natasha's message, Darcy told her about Loki's impromptu visit and added a brief but pushing sentence asking how all the team were, hoping Natasha would get the hint and tell her about Clint, she was a super spy after all and should get the implication. She sent a quick update to her dad about her travels and checked her online banking to make sure that, yes, she still had the money S.H.I.E.L.D gave her. Darcy was still nervous that they might realise their mistake and take the money away, leaving her stranded.

Darcy opened the huge windows and breathed in the warm autumn air, savouring the moment. She still had a few hours before she was meeting up with Luke for dinner. Darcy didn't really mind that Fury had sent an agent to check up on her anymore, not when said agent was as fun to be around as Luke. She had to admit, she was starting to feel a bit lonely.

Darcy turned back to her laptop when she heard a ping that let her know someone had emailed her, she frowned, lines forming across her forehead, who was writing to her? It wasn't even 7 o'clock in the morning in New York when 90 percent of the people she knew were and her father never replied to emails that quickly.

She clicked and the screen filled with the new message. It was from Tony. She didn't have to imagine his voice speaking the words as his face suddenly appeared in the tab.

"Miss Lewis, I'm sure you're too busy Living La Vida Loca or whatever the hell you're doing in Europe and not entertaining me here… But! It's Pepper's birthday on the 27th of September and I wanted everyone to be there, yourself included. Don't bullshit me with money 'cause I'll fly Happy out there on my jet and get him to drag you back if you say no. Laters." Darcy was stunned, she perched on the edge of her desk chair in shock and was about to move when Tony continued to speak, making her jump. "Oh, by the way, can you get me a bottle of wine and one of those little key rings with the Eiffel Tower on." He indicated with his fingers how little 'little' was. "A bottle of Saint-Emilion Chateau-Figeac should do. 1990 is a good year." The video blinked off and Darcy sat wide eyed, staring at the blank screen.

Looks like she had a return date. Darcy looked up at the ceiling, trying to clear her mind. September the 27th. That was three weeks away tomorrow. Darcy felt a sense of relief flood her, followed by a wave of dread. Was she really ready to go back?

She grabbed a pen and replayed the video, trying to write down the wine Tony mentioned. She managed to spell two out of the four words right.

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Darcy tapped her foot impatiently, she was having a really bad day. She went to her usual cafe this morning for her ritual hot chocolate and bumped into by an angry man in a suit who walked away muttering something about 'bloody Americans' in an unflattering British accent. Her usual table was taken, which she didn't mind except she forgotten her book so she just hurriedly drank her drink and left, not feeling at all at peace or refreshed.

She then went to investigate Tony's wine request to have the sales man look down his nose at her, she returned the disgusted glare and assured him that she was serious only then to discover the brand and year he wanted would cost her near $800, she begrudgingly paid, although she didn't let that show it on the surface, fuck the sales man, who was he to judge her and what she could and couldn't buy?! Maybe it was because she was currently wearing her favourite grey knitted jumper that was too baggy and worn to be called ironic or hipster, and her scuffed beyond help boots that had seen better days. The look on his face was almost worth the anger when she handed him a Stark Platinum card to pay for the purchase, she felt very Pretty Woman like. Darcy strolled out of the shop like she owned the place, turning once she reached to door to stick her tongue out at the snobby man before running away, swearing never to set foot inside again.

Then, she got a text from Luke cancelling their dinner that evening because something important for work came up, so now she was waiting for a Skype call with Jane, who was supposed to ring her ten minutes ago. Trust Jane to be late for something _she_ organised. Darcy let out a frustrated sigh and was two seconds from standing up and leaving the desk when she heard the familiar tune that let her know someone was calling.

"Jane!" Darcy greeted with a smile as her friends face appeared on screen. She didn't recognise the background of the room Jane was calling from but she assumed it was The Avenger's Tower. Jane's hair way tied back in a messy bun and she had a pen smudge on her cheek that Darcy would have to point out, but apart from that, she looked the same, maybe even slightly happier with a glow of excitement in her eyes.

"Darce, how are you?" She sounded genuine.

"I'm great. You?"

"Oh, Darce, I miss you so much, I wish you were here."

"You mean The Avenger's Tower?"

"Yes!" She looked and sounded exasperated. "It's too... man-ish around here! I need your spitfire self back so you can put Tony in his place."

Darcy quirked an eyebrow up at her comment. "His place? He owns the building. Isn't it all his place?"

"Ugh! Don't remind me, it's great he let us all move in but he's breathing down everyone's necks. It's like he's a child. Steve spends his days asking a million questions about history, it doesn't help that Tony keeps lying to him, I mean, if I get asked one more time about the 'Clone Wars' then I will rip both their heads off!"

"Calm down, Jane. It's not Steve's fault." Darcy laughed and tried to get Jane to slow and breathe but she just shook her head and gave up as the older woman continued.

"And Natasha, I'm sure she's very lovely and it must be hard doing what she does but I can't shake the feeling she hates me. She actually growled the other day when I went to get some Lucky Charms to eat. An actual growl!" Darcy actually beamed inside at the idea of Natasha being protective of her cereal, although she got the distinct impression it might have been more than that. "I swear, since you've gone, everything is so tense around here, it doesn't help that Clint-" Jane stopped herself before she could finish.

"Doesn't help that Clint, what?" Darcy was more ashamed than curious at what Jane was about to say. Whatever it was couldn't be good. She missed him so much it hurt, but she tried to convince herself she was building up an immunity to the guilt and affection she felt every time she thought of him, which was nearly all the time. That was the problem with travelling alone, it left you with only your thoughts as company, and they could be her best friend or worst enemy depending how self-deprecating she felt that day.

"Darcy, he really liked you." Liked. Wow…That word stung. It was only a matter of time when love turns into loved but she hoped it wouldn't be as soon as this. Maybe it was just her bruised ego but she suddenly didn't feel like being nice anymore.

Yeah, she really fucked it up didn't she? She wanted to scream at Jane. Scream that if life was fair and if it wasn't for the asshole Jackson Norris then she would probably still be in Clint's arms at night. But life wasn't fair. And she had killed Jackson, effectively signing her own fate. Instead she put on that fake smile that she hadn't used in the past few days. "What's going on, Jane? What can I do?"

"Oh, come back! Please. I would love to have you in this new lab with me." Darcy gripped the handles of the desk chair she was sitting on to stop her from reaching out and shaking the computer screen, she was glad the camera was only fixed on her upper body and that still unnatural smiling face. Can't Jane tell that Darcy couldn't say no to her? That if she pleaded like she was now, and looked at her with those big doe eyes, like she was now, then Darcy couldn't leave her friend in need. It was unfair but she knew Jane didn't back her into this corner on purpose.

"I am coming back." She tried to sound happy about it, like she was telling Jane good news, which in Jane's eyes, she guess she was. "For Pepper's birthday party. I'm going to come back, get an apartment somewhere and get a part time job or something. I don't need much money to live on and S.H.I.E.L.D gave me plenty when I left." She didn't know where the words were coming from but Jane was ecstatic. She almost completely knocked over her coffee cup in delight, Darcy managed to disguise a wince as she watched Jane quickly mop up some drops of the dark hot liquid.

"That's brilliant!" She watched as Jane's face lit up with glee, she tried to match the scientists' expression. "You can live here too, Tony's already put a room aside. I'll hire you back, if you want to work part time then that's fine, I'd love to have you just back in the lab with me." _For_ her, more like. Jane was scattered and clumsy, she worked at a hectic pace and often confused herself, Darcy seemed to be the only one who could not only understand Jane's work pattern but coordinate herself around it and organise things into a sensible manner. She didn't understand who Dr Higgs Boson was exactly but if Jane ever mentioned him then Darcy knew exactly where she filed away every scrap of paper that mentioned him before! She dreaded to think how the S.H.I.E.L.D scientists they had 'loaned' to Jane were getting on, by the sounds of Jane begging, it didn't look good.

"That would be awesome Jane, but I still think that I need to minimize the amount of time I spend around there. I'm still not ready to come back full time." Or part time. Or any time. Hell, she was still kind of planning to blow off Pepper's party despite Tony's threat, not believing she had enough strength to stay a whole evening in a room with other people after she'd run away.

"Okay, well I'll start filling in the forms to get you re-instated." Jane smiled and fished under various pieces of paper to find a pen.

"Jane, that's great but-"

"Thor's gonna be so happy, he and Loki and getting on great now, maybe we could double date sometime." Jane muttered as she tore a scrap off a coffee stained sheet of paper.

"Jane!" Darcy couldn't believe what she was suggesting! Wasn't it Jane that nearly choked to death when Darcy teased about dating Loki and now she was planning a double freaking date!? How much had changed since she'd been away? It seemed almost unreal that the older woman would ever hint at the relationship between her and Loki, let alone imply they could be something more! "I can't believe you just said that!" She couldn't help the laugh that came out as she spoke in shock.

"Sorry, I just thought with Clint, you know, that you'd like to move on as well." Darcy's heart beat one painful pump before clenching in her chest.

As well? Like he'd already moved on? She was okay, well, that was a lie, it was just bearable to think he didn't love her anymore, after all she had messed him around and broken his heart when she left, it was only what she deserved. But he had moved on? How long did that take? How does Jane know? Darcy wanted to ask a million questions but she seemed to lose all her confidence to speak.

"With Clint, what?" She managed to stutter out.

"Oh, sweetie, I thought you knew." Jane looked devastated at the revelation that Darcy did, in fact, not know what the fuck she was talking about! Her pulse was racing now, making up double time for its momentary pause earlier.

"No." She managed to speak as light hearted as possible through gritted teeth, her cheeks hurting from the overly bright smile that was plastered on her face.

"Oh, it's just, he's been dating this actress. They met on some chat show." Darcy instantly knew who Jane was referring too, that blonde woman with the stick thin waist, clipped accent and annoying fake laugh. He was dating that mermaid actress?

"That's great." The tips of her fingers were painful from her tightening grasp on the chair arms. "Look, Jane, I got to go, someone's calling me." Darcy waved her phone in front of the webcam, quick enough so Jane couldn't tell it was just on the locked screen.

"Are you sure you're okay, Darce?" Great, she was back to wide eyed sympathy. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"I'm fine, I've got to take this, bye, sorry! I'll speak to you later!" She clicked the conversation over before Jane had a chance to say another word and let out a silent sob. She held her phone to her forehead, getting a tiny bit of relief from the cold surface and then collapsed into herself.

God, she should have prepared for this. They hadn't left on good terms, they still had so many unfinished conversations that plagued her mind, but not his… Of course he'd be more inclined to move on then she was. She quickly Googled the actress and choked when she saw the results.

But why did he have to move on with a stunningly gorgeous woman like Casmere Thorn? Who the fuck was even called that? Casmere? Was she a freaking sweater or something?

Darcy got up from her seat and was tempted to kick it halfway across the room, but she'd panic the old couple downstairs who owned her flat. Rage pumping through her veins making them burn as much as the tears that fell over her cheeks.

Maybe going to New York for the birthday party was a bad idea. Why did she have to promise Jane she'd go? Oh, that's right, Jane likes everything to be perfect and Darcy running away to another country wasn't 'perfect' in her book. Darcy stood in the middle of her room for a moment, panting heavily before she let her shoulders sink and picked up the discarded chair and placed it upright in front of the computer again.

Where was Loki or Luke to distract her when she needed it?

As if by luck, her phone buzzed on the floor. She didn't even remember dropping it, she picked it up and looked at the screen to see who sent her a message. Natasha.

/Heard you're coming to Pepper's party. I will meet you in Paris. We must travel back together. / There was no 'can' or 'may I' with Natasha, only 'will' and 'must'. Darcy gave a bitter laugh as she wiped her runny nose on the back of her jumper sleeve, news travelled fast at Avenger's Tower.

Darcy was tempted to throw the phone across the room, similar to the fate the chair narrowly escaped, but stopped herself, it wasn't Natasha or her phones fault.

Good job Luke cancelled, she really didn't feel like going out that evening, choosing to spend the night in with a copy of her favourite book, the distant sounds of the busy Paris streets and tuck herself into the comfy sheets. She tried to convince herself that it was the characters story that she was crying about as she fell asleep.

Xxxxxx

* * *

It was around two in the morning when she was woken up by the annoying sound of Carly Ray Jensen telling Darcy to call her, maybe. Her hand bashed into the nightstand with more force than she intended, her limbs still heavy with sleep. She swore she'd kill Luke next time she saw him for making that his ringtone and calling her in the middle of the night. Not cool!

"What?" She yelled into the phone.

"Darcy, someone fucked up. I need back up, you're the only agent nearby. Bloody Ward is busy and I need help!" The ragged and out of breath voice hurriedly whispered into the speaker.

"Luke?" She sat up in the bed, instantly worried by his panicked voice. "Where are you?"

"The art gallery I took you to. There's a gala so dress the fuck up." Luke paused, as if thinking of something before speaking again. "Call S.H.I.E.L.D now, tell them what I told you and bring a gun." He hung up with a click and Darcy was left in her dark room, a seriously dangerous situation obviously happening that she had somehow just gotten involved in.

"Fuck." She jumped out of bed and stripped out of her shorts and baggy t-shirt.

"Fuck!" She swore again when she opened her wardrobe and found nothing that could even pass as acceptable for 'gala wear'. She ended up grabbing a pair of leggings and pulling a hippy style long shirt over it. She grabbed a belt and tied it around her lower ribs, wincing at the newly healed bones as she did it up tightly. She frowned and took off the leggings, hoping it wasn't too cold outside for bare legs, then slipped on a pair of her highest heels. She looked in the mirror and with her hair slightly messy, she thought she could pass as okay. She could always claim to be one of those eccentric people who pretended not to care about their looks except they wore Vera Wang and Gucci with the bird feathers in their hair. Yeah, she could totally pull a Helena Bohem Carter.

Grabbing a gun and her taser from her bedside table, she was thankful Coulson managed to send them over to her when she first arrived, who knew he cared? Although now, Darcy was beginning to think he was preparing her for something like this to happen.

She ran out of the house and towards the centre of Paris where the gallery was, thankful she only lived less than a mile away and her heels weren't too uncomfortable.

"For fuck sakes, Luke!" She called out to no one and dialled Natasha's number as she ran.

"Hello?" Black Widow asked, confused at why Darcy was calling her so late in French time.

"Hey, it's Darcy."

"Who else would it be?" Darcy could almost hear her smile down the phone.

"This is sooo not the time!" She practically panted. "Luke's in trouble, he just called me about a gala gone wrong at the Louvre."

"Whatever he said, Darcy, stay away. Luke Hunt is an extraordinary agent and if he's in trouble then it's seriously bad." Natasha warned, she could hear the older woman doing something on the other end of the phone and assumed she was alerting other agents to the situation.

"Ya think?!" Darcy cried as she crossed a road and narrowly avoided getting hit by a car. "I can't leave him, he needs help! Send back-up, like _all_ the back-up in Europe. Just get here as soon as possible!" Darcy hung up as she ran up the wall of steps that led to the entrance of the gallery. She was begin to regret not regularly exercising after she left HQ. It looked busy, lots of photographers and people with microphones standing around the entrance as she waltzed up and stood in front of the two huge security guards. "Darcy Lewis, I'm Luke's ... Guest. Luke Hunt."

They both eyed her up and down, assessing her outfit and lie.

"You're very late." The smaller of the two finally said in a heavy French accent.

"I know, my dog wouldn't go to sleep and then I had to call Casmere Thorn before it was seven pm in New York..." Darcy trailed off, angry that that bitch who stole her man was the only non-suspicious famous name she could come up with and hoped it was believable, to be honest she was glad they hadn't already turned her away.

The larger man with the awesome afro raised an eyebrow at her and reluctantly opened the door to her.

"Thank you! I totally owe you dudes. I'll steal you some Champagne and some of those tiny sausages or something!" Darcy called as she ran through the lobby, suddenly aware she had no idea where Luke was.

She spun on her heels and looked at the various sections she could enter, one was roped off and dark but Darcy recognised it as the place her and Luke argued about the elephant painting and danced in the other day. It was worth a shot. She slipped past the rope and grabbed the gun she had lodged into her underwear, feeling incredible un-spy like.

She heard a scuffle and headed that way, flipping the safety off and holding the gun with both hands, her feet moving as quietly as she could over the smooth marble floor in heels. She was fucked. She knew now, as all her nerves stood to attention and eyes on alert that she should have listened to Natasha and stayed away, but she couldn't leave Luke. He was her only friend in Paris and she would be damned if she left him hanging when he needed her.

For some strange reason, she had an annoying emo song by Linkin Park playing in her head. She hadn't listened to them since she was a teenager, but it seemed to get the adrenaline pumping and put in her the state of mind for espionage. She needed a theme tune to pump her up if she was about to do this totally insane thing.

She rounded a corner, making sure to put her gun first and keep her legs in a fighting stance that Natasha taught her but ready to run if needs be. She saw two men standing on either side of a statue and she swore mentally as she recognised Luke in the dim light.

"Traitor!" The unfamiliar man fired a shot towards the younger man, who dodged and jumped behind the statue for cover. The bullet hit a chunk off and debris flew across the floor.

"Shit. Holy mother fucking shit." Darcy whispered to herself as she took cover behind the wall, crouching so she was less likely to be hit with a stray bullet, she just hoped she hadn't been seen.

She heard Luke's warm laugh and it almost made her feel better if she wasn't so scared. "I'm the traitor? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the one trying to kill me!" Even in the middle of a gun fight, he sounded two parts charming and one part cocky, Darcy rolled her eyes as she readjusted her grip on the handle of the gun.

She tilted her head up to the ceiling and closed her eyes. Why did she have to come here? Her question was answered when she heard another shot ring out and a thud followed by someone groaning. Please let that be the baddie! She prayed.

"I have back up!" Luke groaned. Great, he'd been shot and now was giving away her presence, what a dick move!

"Funny, for some reason I don't believe you. You work alone, Agent."

Darcy weighed up her options. She could leave, no, she couldn't leave Luke. She could announce herself and participate in another round of gun fights or she could try and scare the baddie off by shooting randomly so he knew she was there, just not where. The latter seemed like the best choice so keeping low to the ground, she peered around the corner and fired a bullet into the direction of the statue. It hit it right between the eyes, which was so extremely lucky she didn't know who to thank.

"Come out Agent! You have a man down, I can easily kill him if you don't show yourself!" Great, he had just forced her into an awkward decision. Was he bluffing? Probably not, but Luke still had a gun so it wasn't like he was completely helpless. Was Mr. Bad Man laughing? Shit. Evil crazy laughing was never a good thing. "Neither of you are getting out of here alive." Wow, talk about showing your hand, why would she come out of hiding now she knew he was going to kill her no matter what? "I can't have you walking out of here now that you've seen me."

"Er… I haven't actually seen your face, so am I good to go?" Darcy called out, she wasn't exactly sure where that came from but it seemed like a good idea to taunt the bad guy, it worked well last time... She mused, suppressing a shiver at the memory.

"Bold. I like that. Is that Romanoff? No she wouldn't be on such a menial mission." The man made a humming noise as if thinking only to then fire his gun in her direction, a bit of the stone wall above where she was hiding behind flew apart on the impact; she brushed off some of the dust and sighed. Shit, he knew where she was hiding; she stood up, a burst of adrenaline giving her more confidence apparently. "No, is that Jenkins? Did they give you Jenkins?" The baddie was directing his questions to Luke who only groaned in response. Thanks a lot Luke; he was near useless in this situation.

"It's Agent Lewis actually." Where did that come from?

"Lewis?" He shot another bullet, this time it was lower and she jumped out of the way from the flying debris. "Curious."

"Yeah, it's a fucking miracle. Now, I've got fifteen other Agents less than a minute from busting in here and I'm covering the only exit, you wanna weigh up your odds of getting out of here alive now or later?" Darcy fished out her phone and pressed a few buttons so it began to dial the last person she called. Natasha answered immediately. Darcy had never been more happy to hear her amazingly perfected American accent.

"Darcy, we're on our way, do NOT go into that building!"

"Er..." Darcy whispered, not knowing where to start. "I'm sorry, I did exactly what you told me not to. Luke's wounded, I have a gun, what should I do?"

There was a short pause before the Agent replied. Darcy had the feeling she was on speakerphone.

"If you get a good shot, take it. Do NOT put yourself in her line of sight."

What?

"Her?" Darcy was tempted to peer around the wall but knew that was a stupid idea the second she thought it. "This is a dude!" She hurriedly whispered down the small device before it was smacked out of her hand. She winced and let out a gasp as the older man's foot connected to her wrist. She didn't bother looking at him before running to the next wall, ducking and covering the back of her head as a few bullets were fired at her.

"Darcy!" She heard a man screamed over the speaker of her discarded phone through the hail of shots.

She ran around the outside of the enclosed section that Luke and that ugly statue were in, hoping the man was following her. She had gone the full 360 degrees in less than ten seconds and practically threw herself through the entrance and ran over to Luke. She was on her knees next to him, looking down at the handsome man in his expensive black tux, the crisp white shirt underneath was covered in blood and he looked dead. She shook him with one hand and held her gun up to the entrance so she could stop the baddie when he arrived.

"Shit, Luke? You better be alive, you hear me?" There was no response.

The bad man rounded the corner and pointed his gun at her, Darcy gave a yelp as she shifted her aim of the gun to his shoulder pulled the trigger. She wished she made some kind of reaction, like fear or guilt, but she just watched him drop to the floor, clutching his bleeding right shoulder with his left hand, his gun discarded on the floor by his foot.

Darcy ran over and kicked the gun with a flick of her shoe so it skittered behind her and towards where Luke was still lying on the ground. She stood over the injured man and pointed her gun at his head, hoping she was giving off the 'bad ass chick' image she was going for. The shoes and dress probably weren't helping any.

"Who are you?" She thought that was a good place to start.

"You bitch!" He snarled.

Darcy tutted and was tempted to press her shoe into his wound. She'd seen it in a movie once… "Is that really the way to talk to a lady?" Her tone was sickly sweet and she smiled down at him. "I've known people who have been killed for far less." Liar.

"You fucking shot me!" He was spitting as he spoke, Darcy's frown only deepened.

"Well you shot Luke! I think it's all about even now." She heard some people running in heavy boots along the marble floors nearby, good, S.H.I.E.L.D had arrived. She didn't let her guard down until she saw Natasha and Clint rush into the room. The hand holding the gun dropped, the chunk of metal suddenly feeling heavier than Thor's hammer. She stepped back as more agents piled into the room and surrounded the bad man on the floor, guns aimed and ready at him, although Darcy didn't think it was strictly necessary.

Luke! She suddenly spun on her heels and jogged over to the wounded agent, ignoring the agents who tried to grab her arms. She dropped to her knees a little bit too heavily on the hard floor but she didn't notice.

"You fucker! I need him alive so I can kill him!" Darcy called out to some agents that had that little red cross on their uniform so she knew they carried medical supplies. There was some shifting as a few joined her on the floor.

Darcy sat back on her heels and put her hand against her forehead, it was cool and hard. After a moment she realised it was just the surface on the gun pressed on her skin, calming her. She flicked the safety on and tossed it away from everyone, she didn't hear it clatter against the marble as agents ran around, barking orders at each other and detaining whoever this baddie was.

It wasn't long before the man was taken out, hands in cuffs and a thick bandage wrapped around his shoulder, the blood already seeping through and staining the white fabric. She turned and saw Natasha heading towards her. Darcy extended her arms and wrapped them around the skinnier, taller woman. To her surprise, Natasha gave her a one armed hug back, Darcy guessed she missed her too.

"Are you alright?"

Darcy nodded, knowing the other woman couldn't see it but could feel her head move against her shoulder. They let each other go and Darcy gave a weak smile.

"Gosh, you were quick!" She gave a small fist bump into the taller woman's arm, trying to sound light and carefree. Wow, no wonder she only got a D in Drama Studies at school.

"We were nearby." Darcy looked around at the other people dressed in black, there were a few dozen, way more than the situation called for. That explained that then. Darcy did a double take, where was Clint? She was certain she had seen him briefly before. Then again, maybe she was just hallucinating. "Sweden, in fact."

"That's nice." She was distracted as she spotted the black hole in the perfectly white sculpture of that ugly man her and Luke laughed about the other day. "Do I have to pay for that now?" Darcy pointed at the damage and Natasha cracked a tiny smirk.

"No, we have that covered." Natasha propped her arm around Darcy and pulled her away from the team who were now lifting Luke onto a stretcher that had appeared like magic. "So, how's the vacation going?"

Darcy couldn't help the snort she made.

"Good, hey, wanna make a quick stop next door? That's where The Mona Lisa's kept." Darcy said with a knowing grin. Natasha failed to suppress her smile as her face softened.

"Fine, but we'll have to be quick!" The super spy whispered deceitfully as they quietly snuck away from the rest of the group.

Xxxxxx

* * *

A bit longer than the previous chapter… and some Loki stuff and spy stuff. I hope you liked it and please please please review! I love hearing what you guys think!

They really are appreciated and sometimes it just takes one to push me out of my writing funk and hurry my arse up with updates! Haha!

Until next time,

Charlie


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